OSAKA -- Opponents to the controversial Yoshino River dam project in Tokushima are dissatisfied with a ruling coalition proposal made earlier this week that the 100 billion yen project be returned to the drawing board.
Masayoshi Himeno, a key member of a citizens' group opposing the project, is worried that the ruling alliance's failure to indisputably scrap the plan will allow the Construction Ministry to propose a new but similar project.
The current project, originally planned in 1982, calls for the creating of floodgates and the demolishing of an existing 250-year-old "daijuzeki" rock barrier on the river. The ministry said the current barrier cannot withstand major floods and poses a threat to local residents.